About Time
by LumiOlivier
Summary: Just a quick one-shot of Koujaku doing a HUGE favor to humanity. Thank you, Koujaku, for your bravery and your services


"Thanks for letting me stay here, Tae-san," Koujaku laid his blade on the bed in the guest room.

"Thanks for imposing and taking advantage of my warm hospitality," Tae-san scoffed in the way that only she could. She'd always see Koujaku as the insolent little snot that stood up for her grandson when they were younger. And Koujaku would always see Tae-san as a grandmother to not only Aoba, but himself as well, "Good night."

"Good night," Koujaku watched down the hall as Tae-san went into her bedroom. Aoba had gone to bed a couple of hours ago, complaining of a headache as per usual. Other than Tae-san's hospitality, Koujaku had an ulterior motive for staying at the Seragaki household this evening. He knew Aoba wouldn't exactly be happy about this initially, but he'd thank him later.

Besides…Aoba was sleeping. How would could he object to it?

Koujaku slipped into Aoba's bedroom and watched as he slept. Women may have been an absolute treasure to this world, but none of them could compare to Aoba in his eyes. Aoba was his Hope Diamond. His Heart of the Ocean. Aoba was Koujaku's everything. And no one could ever compare. He was careful not to wake either him or Ren and sat on the edge of the bed, admiring his treasure. Aoba looked so precious while he slept. Koujaku did all he could to keep himself from holding this beautiful boy in his arms. But he was on a mission. The cuddling could come after.

He had never done this with Aoba before. Koujaku knew he would have to be as gentle as he could possibly be. He wouldn't want him to feel any pain or discomfort while he was doing it. Aoba was very fragile and delicate. Koujaku already knew he was going to kill him for what he was about to do and started to lose focus. All of those kids that teased Aoba when they were young came to mind. And it would be a cold day in Hell before Koujaku would let that happen ever again. Not to Aoba. He didn't deserve that.

Koujaku felt a slight pang of guilt for what he was about to do. Aoba would never let him do it while he's awake. He's offered. He's tried. It had to be done. Koujaku couldn't stand by any longer. He wasn't holding back. He took a pair of scissors out of his kimono and let out a heavy sigh, praying that Aoba wouldn't wake up.

Koujaku knew it was going to be bad, but he didn't think it was this bad. The uneven ends were appalling. He hoped that Aoba would've given him better raw material to work with. Still, Koujaku always did like a challenge. And his dear, sweet, beautiful Aoba would be his biggest one on record. As gently as possible, he made his first cut. Aoba winced once and Koujaku turned to stone, whispering to himself, "Please don't wake up. Please don't wake up. Please don't wake up."

Fortunately, Aoba laid perfectly still while Koujaku wiped the sweat from his forehead and went back to work. Then, it dawned on him. Koujaku had never seen Aoba with short hair before. It had been long for as long as he could remember. It was too late to turn back. When this was all said and done, would Aoba come out of this still looking like _his_ Aoba? His perfect treasure? Would it still shine the same?

Koujaku stopped it just below Aoba's shoulders. That was good enough. Enough to where he looked so much better, but he still looked like the perfect creature he knew and loved. Pleased with his good work, Koujaku cleaned up around Aoba's bed and crawled into his own. He had deserved the rest. This was more exhausting than he previously surmised…

The next morning, Koujaku woke up with a lighter conscience. Like he had done the world a great service. He found his way back to Aoba's bedroom and sat on the edge of the bed. Almost as if Aoba knew who was there, he put his head in Koujaku's lap. And of course, Koujaku reveled in it.

A brilliant shade of gold revealed itself under Aoba's eyelids, staring into Koujaku, "Good morning."

"Good morning, sleepyhead," Koujaku put his hand to Aoba's cheek, "Did you sleep ok?"

"Yeah," he cuddled, "Do you think you could hand me my medicine?"

"Headache again?" Koujaku took the orange bottle off the nightstand. Aoba gave him one single nod, "You think there will ever come a day when you don't need these anymore?"

"I don't know," Aoba popped two tablets in his mouth, swallowing hard, "Hard to say."

"Maybe one day."

"Let me up," Aoba tapped on Koujaku's thigh.

"Yeah," Koujaku took his arms off him and saw a pile of blue behind him. Koujaku's heart stopped. He thought he got it all last night. As quick as he could, Koujaku got it cleaned up before Aoba could see. He was safe. For now.

After seeing his good work in the light, Koujaku was quite pleased with himself. Aoba still looked like him only better. He just hoped that Aoba would still speak to him after he saw the events of last night. Koujaku wanted to go back to holding Aoba in his lap again. For just a little while longer.

"Koujaku!" Aoba screamed from the bathroom, "What the hell did you do?!"

He treaded lightly to find Aoba gripping the sides of the sink with a snarl on his face, "What?"

"You've reached a whole new level of creepy!" Aoba snapped, "I can't believe you!"

"What?" Koujaku played it off, "What did I do?"

'Seriously?" Aoba's tirade continued on, "Because eight inches of my hair just walked off by itself?"

"Maybe it realized it didn't want to be there anymore," Koujaku defended, "And it just walked off."

"My hair didn't walk off by itself!"

"WHAT THE HELL'S GOING ON IN HERE?!" Tae-san yelled, breaking them up, "SOME OF US LIKE TO SLEEP IN FROM TIME TO TIME!"

"Sorry, Grams," Aoba apologized, immediately coming down from his rage. He knew better than to transfer his anger at Koujaku to her. She'd club him.

"Both of you, quit your whining!" she banged her fist on top of both their heads, "I'm going to get started on breakfast. You'll settle down once your bellies are full."

Aoba glared into Koujaku's soul, "This isn't over."

"As Aoba stormed downstairs, Koujaku looked over at the small old lady standing next to him, "You think he'll get over it?"

"Eventually," Tae-san grinned, "Thank you, Koujaku."

"My pleasure," Koujaku caught her infectious mood.

"Next time, though," she instructed, "Maybe not while he's sleeping."

"How else am I going to get him to cooperate?" he chuckled to himself, following Tae-san downstairs for breakfast. Aoba sat across from him, still pouting, but Koujaku would be able to live with that. If it were at all possible, Aoba had gotten cuter. And there was no one else to blame but himself.


End file.
